Trolley device



E. A. LARSSON 2,117,028

TROLLEY' DEVICE Original Filed Aug. 17, 1935 (Ittorneg Patented May 10,1938 UNITED STATES 2,1 lLZt PATENT cries The Ohio Brass Company,Mansfield, Ohio, a corporation of New Jersey Original application August17, 1935, Serial No.

Divided and this application February 12,1937, Serial No. 125,457

6 Claims.

My invention relates to a mechanism for con trolling trolley poles usedon vehicles deriving current from overhead conductors.

It has been the practice for many years to equip such vehicles withtrolley tenders, that is,

a device that will automatically maintain the rope leading to thetrolley pole slightly taut or to lower the trolley pole should itaccidently leave the trolley wire or both.

10 With the advent of the trolley bus the requirements expected of thedevice and the requirements on part of the trolley bus operator inresetting the device were greatly increased as the device wasnecessarily equipped with stronger retrieving springs making it muchmore difiicult for the operator to reset the device and in addition thetrolley buses are equipped with two poles and trolley tenders in placeof one.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide an apparatus. forautomatically rendering inoperative the retrieving system whereby thevehicle operator effects the lowering of one or both of the trolleypoles at will.

Another object of my invention is to automatically arrest the downwardmovement of the trolley pole when such movement has been effected by theoperator, by rendering the lowering system inoperative.

Another object of my invention is to provide means to catch and hold thepole in the lowered position.

My invention resides in the new and novel construction, combination, andrelation of the various parts herein described and shown in theaccompanying drawing.

In the drawing:-

Fig. l is a schematic view showing the arrangement of my invention withrespect to the ve hicle, the trolley pole, and the system for lower- 40ing the trolley pole.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view similar to Fig. 1,

showing the trolley pole as being lowered in the direction of thevehicle into operative relation with my invention. after the operatorhas set the retrieving system in operation. a

Fig. 3 shows a partial view of the rear end of a bus on which is mountedtwo of my inventions and showing one pole as being entirely lowered andautomatically held down and the other pole 50 still in its normaloperating position in contact with the trolley wire.

Fig. 4 is an enlargement of one of the holddown and cut-out devicesshown in Fig. 3 and comprising my invention.

' This application is a division of my co-pending application filedAugust 17, 1935, Serial Number 36,699.

My invention may be used with trolley buses usually equipped with twosets of current collecting devices or with street cars equipped with asingle current collecting device.

These vehicles are also provided with trolley tenders 2 also calledtrolley catchers or trolley retrievers and by means of which thecollecting mechanism i may be automatically lowered should thecollecting device accidentl leave the trolley wire 3. The device tendsto keep the rope free of slack as the current collector rises and fallsrelative to the vehicle.

In connection with the vehicle, I provide a hold-down andcircuit-controlling device 5, such that when the current collectingdevice has been moved to its lowered position it will be automaticallycaught and held in its lowered position and simultaneously a normallyclosed switch will be opened as later explained.

The trolley tender 2 is arranged to operate automatically topull thecurrent collecting device downwardly by means of a spring and is alsoarranged to be operated by means of an electric motor at will of thevehicle operator.

The current collecting device I may be of the usual type comprising apole B biased to move upwardly by means of the spring I and hold thecurrent collector shoe 8 in contact with the trolley wire 3.

The hold-down device 5 comprises a base 9 to which is secured spaceduprights ll] provided with a guideway ll through which the pole 6 movesto its lowered position.

The uprights II] are provided with extending and sloping arms l2 whichmay be of any length and degree of slope desired in order to guide andline the trolley pole with respect to the slot II. The arms l2 may beequipped with rubber facings i3 which tend to silence the guiding of thetrolley pole into the slot I I.

Pivotally mounted on the base 9 is a hook member M which is shown in itstwo positions in Fig. 3 and in its pole receiving position in Fig. 4.The member M is yieldingly held in its two positions by means of anover-center spring I 5. As the pole 6 is lowered and engages with thehook M, the hook will be moved to its holding position shown to the leftin Fig. 3.

Also, mounted on the base 9 is a switch box it in which is mounted acircuit control switch which is normally closed, that is, when thetrolley pole is in its raised position. The switch comprises a switcharm ll pivoted at l 8 and raised to its closed position by means of thespring Hi. The switch arm i! is provided with a contact arranged toengage the contact 24 mounted on the insulating base 22 which is securedto the member 9.

The pivotal mounting 23 is also secured to the insulating base 22. Thecontact 2i and the pivotal mounting 23 are arranged to receiveconductors forming part of the aforesaid control system. The switch isprovided with an insulated operating plunger 2d which is mounted toreciprocate and to hold the switch arm H in its downward position whenthe hook it is in its full holding position shown at the left of Fig. 3,thus separating the contacts 28 and 21 and opening the switch andcircuit controlled thereby. In Fig. 4 the switch is shown in its closedposition.

As the trolley pole may be brought down with considerable force eitherthrough the operation of the motor or the spring F, I provide a bumperhaving a cushion 25 of resilient rubber to be engaged by the hook i lwhen the pole is brought to its lowest position. This also eliminatesthe clash of metal when the hook i6 is brought into contact with itsstop.

When desired, the hook 94 may be moved to its raised position by meansof the rope 22" which passes around one or more sheaves 28 to bring itto a position where it is convenient for the operator.

In order to set forth a better understanding of my invention and itspurpose, I have shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the system of circuits, switches,retrievers, etc. which I use for lowering the trolley poles and whichsystem is automatically rendered inoperative when the pole has beenlowered to a predetermined position. Such inoperation is brought aboutby the switch operated by the lowered pole.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, S and S represent the two switchescontrolled by the hold-down device, and M and M represent the motors foroperating the retrievers R and R. respectively. B represents a storagebattery or other source of current supply. I-I represents ahand-operated push-button for the use of the operator, and C and Crepresent magnetically closed switches for the motors M and Mrespectively, and L and L signal lights for indicating when the switch His closed, if the system is working, and also indicates whether theswitches S and S respectively are open or closed.

When the operator desires to lower the current collecting device, ordevices. he closes the switches 8, thus energizing the coils is of thecontrol switches C and C thus closing the switches C and C thereupondirectly connecting the motors M and M to the battery B. This energizesthe motors and they are thrown into operative mesh or relation with threspective retrievers R and R and the retrievers will be operated,winding in the rope and drawing down the trolley pole or poles. Bothpoles in the arrangement shown will be drawn down simultaneously untileach has reached its lowestpredetermined position, and the hook it hasbeen forced into its locking position, thus opening the switches S andS. Upon the opening of the switches the coils iii will be de-energizedand the switches C and C will open thus cutting off current to themotors M and M.

If there is only one pole on the vehicle then only a part of the aboveequipment is required, as for instance, the switch C, hold-down device 5therefor, switch S, retriever R, motor M, and the controllingcircuitstherefor. Insulation is interposed at I between the trolley poleand current collector, thus rendering the pole B unenergized and thecurrent may be carried directly from the current collector to the carthrough the medium of an insulated conductor K, shown in Fig. 1.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A trolley pole guide and hold-down device comprising a structureformed with a slot and inward and downward sloping edges to guide atrolley pole into said slot, resilient non-metallic means mounted onsaid sloping edges to be contacted by the trolley pole, hooked meanspivotally mounted to move to two positions, one position to hold thetrolley pole in its lowered position and the other to release the poleand spring means to hold the hook in either position, the hook movableto its holding position by pressure thereon of the trolley pole as movedto its lowered position, manually operated means to move the hook to itsreleasing position in which it is held until moved to its holdingposition by the pole.

2. A trolley pole guide and hold-down device comprising a structureformed with a slot and inward and downward sloping edges to guide atrolley pole into said slot, resilient non-metallic means mounted onsaid sloping edges to be contacted by the trolley pole, hooked meanspivotally mounted to move to two positions, one position to hold thetrolley pole in its lowered position and the other to release the poleand spring means to hold the hook in either position, the hook movableto its holding position by pressure of the trolley pole thereon as thepole moves to its lowered position, the hook remaining in its releasingposition until moved to its holding position by said pole.

3. The combination of a trolley pole mounted on a vehicle and having alowered and a raised po sition of a trolley pole hold-down devicemounted on the vehicle and comprising a structure having a vertical slotand means to guide a trolley pole into said slot, a pivotally mountedhook having a pole holding position when the pole is in its loweredposition and a pole releasing position when the pole is in its raisedposition, an overcenter spring holding the hook in its holding positionwhen the pole is in its lowered position and holding the hook in itsreleasing position while the pole is in its raised position, a switch tocontrol a circuit, having an open position when the hook is in itsholding position and having a closed position when the hook is in itsreleasing position, the hook arranged to be moved to its holdingposition by the lowering movement of the trolley pole and the hook tohold the switch to its open position when the pole is in its loweredposition.

4. A trolley pole hold-down device comprising a pair of spaced uprightarms forming a guiding channel therebetween to receive and guide atrolley pole when being lowered, a pivotally mounted hook having twopositions namely a locking position to which it is movable by the poleto hold the pole in its lowered position and a releasing position inwhich the hook is held while the pole is in its raised position and anover-center spring to hold the hook in either its releasing or itslooking positions.

5. The combination with a trolley pole of a pivotally mounted latchhaving holding and releasing positions, a spring operating to yieldinglyhold the latch in its lowered position, means to guide the pole as it islowered into operative relation to the latch, whereby the pole moves thelatch to its holding position and the pole is held in its 7 loweredposition by the latch, electrically operated means to lower the pole andmeans operated by the latch to render inoperative the electricallyoperated means when the pole is positioned to be held by the latch,means to move the latch to its releasing position to release the poleand the said spring operating to hold the latch in its releasingposition after the pole has been released.

6. The combination with a vehicle and a trolley pole of a trolley poleguide and hold-down device comprising means forming a guiding channel toreceive and guide the trolley pole when being lowered, a pivotallymounted hook member having two positions, namely, a locking position anda releasing position, the hook member being movable by the pressurethereon of the pole to its locking position to hold the pole in itslowered position, a spring operating to hold the hook member in eitherits releasing position or its locking position, and electricallyoperated means to lower the pole and to exert pressure on the hook tomove it to its locking position and means to automatically stop theelectrically operated means when the 10 book is in its locking position.

ERNST A. LARSSON.

